House leaders back postponement of BARMM polls

House leaders have filed a counterpart bill to postpone the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to May 2026, a move that, according to a minority leader, would undermine public trust in the democratic process.

House Bill 11034 filed on Monday mimics Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s proposal under Senate Bill 2862 — filed a day earlier — to delay by another year the scheduled 2025 elections in BARMM.

The proponents of the measure include House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Muslim lawmakers, Deputy Speaker Yasser Balindong and Representatives Zia Alonto Adiong, Bai Dimple Mastura and Munir Arbison Jr.

The Muslim solons are all from Lanao del Sur, which is part of the BARMM, except for Arbison who is from Sulu, formerly a BARMM member before it was removed from the group under a Supreme Court (SC) ruling in September.

Both measures cited the potential implications of the SC decision on the composition of the BARMM Parliament and in the preparations for the 2025 elections, considering the pending petitions to include Sulu again in the Bangsamoro Region.

HB 11034 also took into consideration a resolution by the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) appealing to Congress to move the BARMM polls to 2028 — to coincide with the national elections — citing legal and administrative challenges presently confronting the region, including the SC ruling.

Romualdez said the postponement was not a delay in progress but a “necessary step” to ensure that the foundations of the BARMM are solid and capable of supporting a sustainable autonomous government.

“With Sulu removed from BARMM jurisdiction, the parliamentary seat allocations require recalibration, a process demanding time and extensive legislative adjustments to reflect the region’s new structure accurately,” Romualdez said.

However, House Deputy Minority Leader and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman, former governor of the ARMM, thumbed down the proposals, arguing that it may compromise the people’s right to suffrage unless broad public consultations are undertaken.

“The right of the Bangsamoro people to choose their own leaders who will be ultimately accountable to them is one of the highest expressions of our democracy as enshrined in both the Constitution and the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL),” Hataman stressed.

“We need broad public consultations to postpone the 2025 election in the BARMM, and not just the opinion of a few resource persons who can be invited to the halls of the Senate and House,” he added.

Hataman, who will run for Basilan governor, pointed out that the government should uphold the essence of the Constitution and the BOL by carrying on with the initial plan to hold the first-ever general polls in the BARMM by May 2025.

Like Hataman, Senators Imee Marcos and Koko Pimentel opposed postponing the BARMM polls, citing democratic principles.

Earlier this year, the BARMM Parliament established 32 parliamentary districts in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Cotabato City, the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province, and Sulu.

However, with the exclusion of Sulu, which initially had seven seats, Adiong said there would have to be “readjustments to the allotment of the seats.”